doi: 10.3732/ajb.0900109
© 2010 Botanical Society of America, Inc.
Fossil Ericaceae from New Zealand: Deconstructing the use of fossil evidence in historical biogeography1Gregory J. Jordan2,7, Jennifer M. Bannister3, Dallas C. Mildenhall4, Reinhard Zetter5 andDaphne E. Lee6
2 School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia 3 Department of Botany, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand 4 GNS Science, P.O. Box 30-368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand 5Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, Austria 6 Department of Geology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Received for publication 21 March 2009. Accepted for publication 18 September 2009.
ABSTRACT
The Australasian Ericaceae epitomize many problems in understanding the biogeography of the southern hemisphere, especially the relative contributions of Gondwanan vicariance and dispersal. Late Cretaceous fossil pollen of the family suggests extreme antiquity of the group in Australasia, but recent phylogenetic evidence suggests much younger histories for most of the groups in that region. This paper documents two new species of latest Oligocene-Early Miocene macrofossils of Ericaceae from New Zealand. Cyathodophyllum novae-zelandiae G.J.Jord. & Bannister gen. and sp. nov. is the oldest record of the tribe Styphelieae, but is of a clade now extinct in New Zealand, possibly related to the Tasmanian genus Cyathodes. Richeaphyllum waimumuensis G.J.Jord. & Bannister sp. nov. is a member of Richeeae, but it is ambiguous as to whether it is a member of the impressivemodern New Zealand radiation in Dracophyllum. These fossils emphasize the fact that at least some of the fossil pollen of Ericaceae may have been derived from extinct lineages and therefore should not be used as evidence for the antiquity of any modern New Zealand clade of Ericaceae. New fossils and/or detailed analysis of fossil and extant pollen may help resolve such uncertainty.
Key Words: Cyathodes • Dracophyllum • Epacridaceae • Ericaceae • extinction • fossil • historical biogeography • long-distance dispersal • palynology • vicariance
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UM ALERTA DESTE BLOGGER:
Geralmente a biogeografia tem sido apontada como uma das provas do fato, Fato, FATO da evolução, mas pesquisas recentes têm demonstrado que é preciso ser mais cético em vez de usar a biogeografia como radiestesia (método de encontrar água com uma varinha) na adivinhação de histórias evolutivas do passado para explicar a história dos atuais seres vivos.
Será que os autores de livros-texto de Biologia do ensino médio vão destacar isso quando abordarem a biogeografia como prova do fato, Fato, FATO da evolução???
Fui, nem sei por que, pensando no Asterix...
